Experiences of severe and multiple disadvantage within ethnically diverse communities in Nottingham
Published on 18 February, 2026.
Based on the current definition for Severe and Multiple Disadvantage (SMD), researchers have attempted to scope the extent of SMD within the population. The reported levels of SMD are based on estimates in the Lankelly Chase Foundation report Hard Edges: Mapping severe and multiple disadvantage (Bramley & Fitzpatrick et al, 2015) and suggests that the number of people experiencing a combination of homelessness, substance misuse and involvement with the criminal justice system in England, reaches around 58,000 people in any one year; they also estimated the number increases to over a quarter of a million when facing just two of these three problems. The Lankelly Chase Foundation report suggests that SMD is unique from other forms of exclusion due to the degree of stigma attached to, directed at, or experienced by people in this group. Those people, according to the report, are most likely to be white men aged 25-44, who have experienced significant childhood trauma that has its roots in family and educational experiences. Highlighting the effects of stigma and traumatic childhood experiences are important as they orient attention to the social processes involved with the experiences of disadvantage rather than foregrounding the behavioural consequences that locate the problem within individuals. However, whilst Lankelly Chase Foundation Report highlights the unique problems facing people experiencing SMD due to stigma and exclusion, little is offered by way of how and why people may find themselves in the situations resulting in SMD or about the ways that SMD might be experienced differently between different groups of people. Considering the finding that white men appear to disproportionately experience SMD, a more recent report, Gender Matters (Sosenko, Bramley, & Johnsen, 2020) looked specifically into women experiencing SMD. This study presents a nuanced and detailed analysis of hidden groups of men and Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic groups. The Hard Edges report defined SMD using involvement in the criminal justice system as a form of disadvantage; the Gender Matters report, used a definition for SMD that included violence and abuse within the home. This meant women are at least as equally represented as experiencing disadvantage as men, and the overall figures are estimated to rise to approximately 336,000 people (in England) being affected.